DailyPost 2502
AUTO DELETE
You will never be able to connect the topic to the domain is a challenge to the readers this evening. That is pertains to something very critical to our safe existence and something which is staring at the nation right in its face. One singe feature of a system could have meant the difference between life and death and could have also made investigation so potent that could nail the accused to a great level of finality. We will come to the topic in a just a while, what is utmost importance that we have been using this technology for ages but have not put head and heart in it.
This the video surveillance technology, computer vision and in common parlance, CCTVs, which makes us look at world with precision over the existence and movement of humans and vehicles and finding a meaning and connect for the requirements we have in mind and post mortem which is required on the video footage by what we call as video analytics today. It can put to anu number of uses depending on way it is customized and imaginatively used. But at the barest you need to understand the basic of this technology and how it can best used for police requirements.
CCTVs have been in rampant use in public for quite some time. The amount of tax payers money which has been invested into this video cover network has been huge. The results are not on display; law and order, crime and traffic. Presumably, the Delhi Police cameras are independent of the Delhi government camera. How have we been using this technology as the Third Eye and a Force Multiplier which has been a necessity of the Indian, much more than anywhere else, given the human resource crunch. It is both a dynamic monitoring tool and an excellent investigative material.
Time and again Indian courts have found video footages missing for a variety of reasons. Highest courts in the land have gone to the extent making CCTV mandatory in Police Stations with an eagle’s eye on the lock ups. How effectively it has got executed and is being monitored needs to be evaluated. Besides, lots of other self-created challenges like technical handicaps and ownership of the projects, storage remains one of the key areas. It has become mechanical. Nobody gives it a thought from the utility point of view, one month is generally thought to be fine, as it costs less. Then auto delete and overwriting on the same medium. In the case of Manipur auto delete was taken as an excuse. Who has decided on the auto delete? Police as owners of the network are decision makers of what they want for how long? It could have been at any point in time given the gravity of the situation.
AUTO DELETE OF VIDEO FOOTAGE IS TANTAMOUNT TO AUTO DELETE OF INVESTIGATION.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.